Sourav Ganguly collides with Cameron White at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday. (AFP)

Calcutta: For over three hours (191 minutes, actually) on Saturday, it seemed as if Sourav Ganguly would, among other things, get to make a very personal point — score big in (friend-turned…) Greg Chappell’s presence.

That, however, was not to be at the Chinnaswamy in Bangalore.

The second innings is there, yes, but Sourav’s best (and last) bet would be the second Test, in Mohali, from Friday.

Sourav hasn’t talked about it publicly, but The Telegraph learns that getting a biggie in front of Chappell has been a definite wish.

Indeed, Sourav had been “very upset” when Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the selectors dropped him for the ODI against Pakistan in Jaipur last November.

Why?

Because Chappell had been around (as consultant to the progressive Rajasthan Cricket Association) in the Pink City and that match was to have been the former Team India coach’s first exposure to one-time wards since ending his innings seven months earlier.

Chappell had been in the job for 23 months, starting from May 2005.

Now, of course, Chappell is in India as Australia’s assistant coach. Many see this as Cricket Australia’s smartest move in recent times.

The former captain will be with the Ricky Pontings till the second Test before returning home to honour commitments required of him as the recently-appointed head coach at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane.

That, one may add, has been another bright move.

Getting back to Sourav, he fell for 47, his concentration obviously shaken by the collision with debutant Cameron White.

Sourav, though, did his bit to ensure that target No.1 — getting past the follow-on mark — was achieved.

This is the one-time captain’s farewell series.

Footnote: Sourav and Chappell did come face to face the other day, at the Chinnaswamy, and pleasantries were exchanged. It was an excellent photo-op, but is their bitterness really a thing of the past? Sourav could, once through with cricket, provide clues.